Under the slogan „Love them, protect them, immunise them“, the sixt European Immunisation Week was launched on 26. April 2011, by two Entity Institutes for Public Health, with the support of UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina. The central event was officialy opened by the Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Rusmir Mesihovic and UNICEF Representative, Ms. Florence Bauer. „It is a key moment to have this event as recent outbreaks of both wild poliovirus and measles in the region have demonstrated that not reaching every child with proper routine immunization has drastic consequences on public health. It also showed that at a time of high mobility vaccine-preventable diseases can easily spread across borders. This is why the theme of this year is "Shared solutions to common threats" to highlight the importance of collaborating and sharing experiences and solutions for achieving immunization goals”, said Ms. Bauer

The primary goal of the activities within European Immunisation Week is to increase the awareness on importance immunisation process has in public health. The message about the impact of continued immunisation process should reach every individual in the country, while the vaccines should be always available to every child in order to reach full immunisation coverage. „Immunisation is foundation for the prevention of diseases. In this year, the health institutions of BiH are planning to increase the volume of activities related to public information on necessity of immunisation“, said Dr. Rusmir Mesihovic, Minister of Health in the Government of BiH Federation.Main epidemiologists from Institutes for Public Health, from both entities, presented the findings and reccomendations given by International Immunisation Mission, as well as main results of the survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices in immunisation,convened among health workers and parents in BiH.The event also opened the dialogue among parents and health workers, aiming to restore the public trust in immunisation process. Simmilar events, gathering parents, media and health workers will are organised in all main cities of BiH, during following weeks.